Wrinkles in textile fabrics are caused by the bending and creasing of the textile material which places an external portion of a filament in a yarn under tension while the internal portion of that filament in the yarn is placed under compression. Particularly with cotton fabrics, the hydrogen bonding that occurs between the cellulose molecules contributes to keeping wrinkles in place. The wrinkling of fabric, in particular clothing and certain household fabrics, is therefore subject to the inherent tensional elastic deformation and recovery properties of the fibers which constitute the yarn and fabrics.
In the modern world, with the increase of hustle and bustle and travel, there is a demand for a quick fix which will help to diminish the labor involved in home laundering and/or the cost and time involved in dry cleaning or commercial laundering. This has brought additional pressure to bear on textile technologists to produce a product that will sufficiently reduce wrinkles in fabrics, especially clothing and household fabrics, and to produce a good appearance through a simple, convenient application of a product.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,532,023, issued Jul. 2, 1996 to Vogel, Wahl, Cappel and Ward discloses aqueous wrinkle control compositions containing non-volatile silicone and film forming polymer. Preferred silicones include reactive silicones and amino-functional silicone, known as “amodimethicone”. The composition containing such silicones is applied to fabric from a spray dispenser. It is found that in the spray treatment, an appreciable amount of the aqueous composition misses the fabric, and instead falls on flooring surfaces, such as rugs, carpets, concrete floors, tiled floors, linoleum floors, bathtub floors, which leaves a silicone layer that is accumulated on and/or cured on and/or bonded to the flooring surfaces. Such silicones that are accumulated on such surfaces, and especially those that are bonded to such surfaces are difficult to remove. Flooring surfaces thus become slippery and can present a safety hazard to the household members. U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,695, issued Nov. 12, 1996 to E. F. Targosz discloses an aqueous wrinkle removal composition containing a vegetable oil based cationic quaternary ammonium surfactant, and an anionic fluorosurfactant. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,661,268, issued Apr. 28, 1987 to Jacobson et al. discloses a wrinkle removal spray comprising an aqueous alcoholic composition containing a dialkyl quaternary ammonium salt and a silicone surfactant and/or a fluoro surfactant. U.S. Pat. No. 5,100,566, issued Mar. 31, 1992 to Agbomeirele et al., discloses a method of reducing wrinkles in fabric by spraying the fabric with an aqueous alcoholic solution of an anionic siliconate alkali metal salt. U.S. Pat. No. 4,806,254, issued Feb. 21, 1989 to J. A. Church discloses fabric wrinkle removal aqueous alcoholic solution containing glycerine and a nonionic surfactant. These patents are incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention reduces wrinkles in fabrics, including clothing, dry cleanables, linens, bed clothes, draperies, window curtains, shower curtains, table linens, and the like, without the need for ironing. The present invention can be used on wet, damp, or dry clothing to relax wrinkles and give clothes a ready to wear or use look that is demanded by today's fast paced world. The present invention also essentially eliminates the need for touch up ironing usually associated with closet, drawer, and suitcase storage of garments.
In a preferred aspect, an additional benefit of the composition of the present invention is an improved garment shape, body, rewrinkle prevention, and crispness.
When ironing is desired however, the composition of the present invention can also act as an excellent ironing aid. The present invention makes the task of ironing easier and faster by plasticizing fabric fibers and thus making it easier to work wrinkles out of the fabric. When used as an ironing aid, the compositions of the present invention help produce a crisp, smooth appearance, but also retaining a quality of softness.
Silicone oil emulsion compositions tend to be highly unstable, especially in regard to the long-term shelf stability of silicone oil emulsion compositions. As a result, such compositions have not achieved wide-spread use in the area of controlling wrinkles on fabric, as well as in other areas. It has thus been a desire of those skilled in the art to develop a silicone oil emulsion composition that remains stable over relatively long periods of time.